The Italian Farmer’s Table

The pursuit of The Italian Farmer’s Table came to fruition after spending several years living in Italy. One of our first experiences was spent working together on sustainable farms with restaurants known as agriturismi. The agriturismi system is a network of farms with restaurants and accommodations that offer a unique way to travel and discover rural Italy. This full immersion into the rhythm of farm life would forever change our philosophies and approach towards cooking and eating and proved instrumental in our development as chefs. Whether tending to the fields to harvest vegetables or mucking out barns and bringing animals to pasture, our agriturismo experience came full circle through our work in the kitchen, where we learned the importance of having a close connection to the land and the ingredients one cooks with.
The idea to write The Italian Farmer’s Table came about after our return to the States where the farm to table mantra was just beginning to gain momentum. Farmer’s markets were becoming increasingly popular and food publications were featuring articles glorifying small organic farms and the importance of eating locally. We felt that a cookbook would be the best way we could bring the Italian agriturismi to life and that their sustainable practices would be appreciated amongst the growing population interested in understanding more about how their food was grown.
In researching for the book our travels brought us into the kitchens and fields of thirty agriturismi throughout the eight northern most regions of Italy. Beginning in Liguria we worked our way up through Piedmont, into the Mountains of Val D’Aosta, and Trentino Alto Adige, over to the hills of Fruili, into the lakes and plains of Lombardy, Emilia Romagna, and the Veneto. The book captures the essence and spirit of northern Italian cuisine through the heirloom family recipes taught to us at each farm, and showcases a sustainable lifestyle that is alive and well in rural northern Italy.

The Southern Italian Farmer’s Table

The Southern Italian Farmer’s Table, picks up where we left off with The Italian Farmer’s Table, and highlights recipes and farms from central and southern Italy. Our immersion into the core, heel, and toe of Italy brought us to thirty more farms that spanned the remaining twelve regions. From the hills of Tuscany, down the less traveled roads of the deep south, out to the faraway land of Sardegna, and to the shores of sunny Sicily, we cooked and gathered more recipes, pictures, and stories, that stand as pinnacle representatives of each farms’ individual personalities and production.

With both books, through our photographs, writings about each agriturismo, and especially recipes, we hope they offer a taste and flavor of Italian working farms, and inspire you with the purest examples of the Italian philosophy so fundamental to its cuisine.